Jeff Newcomer, 2007-2008 Faculty
Senate President, called the Senate meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. Newcomer
welcomed twenty-three (23) Senators, three (3) ex officio members, two (2)
guests, the Legislative Liaison and the recorder (2) for a total of thirty
(30). (See attached roster).

Items from the Senate President

Approval of Senate Minutes.
Senators approved the minutes of January 28, as written.

§
President Morse Congratulated. Senators echoed
Newcomer’s congratulations to President Morse who was honored by the State
Senate for her service. The House will honor Morse on March 4th.
Newcomer encouraged faculty to attend, and that it was a great opportunity to
observe how laws are made in the State.

In other matters:

§
John Purdy reports on Senate Bill 6893.
SB6893
promoting intellectual diversity did not get a hearing. John Purdy,
Legislative Liaison, reported that the Council of Faculty Representatives
plans to put forward a statement of principles if the bill materializes next
year.

§
HEC Board Master Plan and faculty participation.
John
Purdy reported that he is writing a letter to reiterate previous
testimony about resolutions in the Plan, particularly an item which supports
faculty membership on the Board.

§
Faculty Participation on Board.
David Fewings asked
about faculty membership on the Boards of Directors. So far the bill does not
seem popular, although CFR plans to submit a list of faculty to the governor.
If a faculty member is appointed, that person would be a servant of state,
required to recuse her/himself for conflict of interest matters. At the very
least such an appointment would allow for a test case. A local appointment to
the Board of Trustees does not preclude it from revising rules of operation to
specify rights and obligations of a member. At last hearing the bills did not
make it out of committee.

§
Presidential Search.
The Board
approved the next steps in the Presidential search.

§
Waterfront.
An open forum is scheduled in March to present various models of Waterfront
development the Board might consider in conjunction with the Port and the
City. Faculty are encouraged to read the details in an upcoming press
release.

§
Bike Lane’s Future.Comments
regarding the University Advisory Committee’s recent discussion about the
future of the bike lane on East College Way should be addressed to Gayle
Shipley, Environment Health and Safety Director.

§
Semi-automated Postal Machines.Such an
installation in the Viking Union is unlikely since the costly purchase would
have to go through the postal service and be subsidized by the Viking Union.

Items from the Administration

§
President Morse reported that some programs may have to go back to the drawing
board if there is a drop in the economic forecast which is due out this week.

§Morse
reported that although the students have been active in pushing for child
care, only some resources will be allocated, but no support for expansion of
facilities.

§Morse
noted that the Council of Presidents (COP) took a position on a Senate bill to
change the preference listings from the universities. One positive note is
that we will not have to compete with the branch campuses since they will not
be listed separately from the main campuses.

§Morse
reported on continued debate over the proposed site of the University of
Washington North Puget Sound campus.

Items from UFWW

§Bill
Lyne, President UFWW, announced that a mediator from PERC will be present at
this week’s negotiations with additional meetings scheduled for February 27th
and 28th.

Agenda Items

President Newcomer announced a
change to the order of the Agenda, so that Senators could review the policy on
campus violence with guest Sue Guenter-Schlesinger, Executive Director, Equal
Opportunity.

POL-U1600.02. On Responding to
Campus Violence or Threats of Violence.

Senators reviewed and
commented on POL-U1600.02, On Responding to Campus Violence or Threats of
Violence, with Guenter-Schlesinger. President Morse offered information
on Western’s extensive emergency response plan. The plan has a procedure with
a telephone tree, and which vice president takes the lead depending on the
nature of the emergency.
appropriate people are brought in to the emergency response center down at
police headquarters on campus. Morse noted that for instance when graffiti
was found last year a team was brought together in a couple of hours and
worked in tandem with the City police. Senators noted that some threats may
be more immediate than others, and how fast does the team get there. Morse
replied that for a true emergency, components of team meet immediately.
Guenter-Schlesinger reported that she would be happy to incorporate additional
suggestions from Senators. David Fewings mentioned taser stun-guns and asked
for a specific definition of what constitutes a “dangerous weapon”.

Declining Freshman Credit Load.
Senators commented on the smaller than traditional credit-load freshman are
carrying, as noted in the UPC report with Karen Copetas. Downing reminded the
Senate that the Provost has created several focus groups with freshman to
learn more about why this is happening. One reason may be that freshman come
in with more Running Start and other pre-college credits, and are occasionally
advised to take less credits in their first quarter. Others may register for
a huge credit load, but then they find they have to drop in winter and
spring. Other students combine three, four and 5 credits in a way that does
not add up to more than a minimum, and find that a 3-credit course can be
almost as demanding as a 5-credit course.

Academic Technology
Committee Charge

Senators discussed a
modification to the charge for the Academic Technology Committee (ATC) and
plan to consider the charge as an Action Item next meeting.

APPOINTMENTS AND ELECTIONS
– Mick Cunningham, Officer

Senators appointed the following:

To the Faculty Senate: Diane Johnson, Modern &
Classical Languages, for Joan Hoffman, who has had to resign from the
Senate due to illness.

Catalog Task Force.
One vacancy.

Dual Career
Assistance (DCA) – review of procedure with flowchart

§
Senators asked for data about numbers of requests for Dual Career Assistance (DCA)
appointments of opportunity that are made each year and reviewed a chart and
text clarifying DCA procedure.

§
Senators discussed various challenges to offering appointments of opportunity,
and noted that it is always important to leave room for negotiation and
discretion. At some point these must always be a qualitative level decision,
involving the dean and the unit head, but that historically the denial comes
from the department that makes the decision. There has not been sufficient
documentation of who makes the decisions and in the past it has not always
been clear where the “no” is coming from.

§Such
appointments are generally not common although generally are made on an ad hoc
basis. But if a spouse is to be accommodated through a 3-year only halftime
position, the full reality of cost of living and potential job availability in
Bellingham should be thoroughly explained to the couple initially.

§As long
as there is transparency and clarity when there is refusal at each step of the
way, each party has to take responsibility for its decision. Ultimately
salaries have to increase substantially so that faculty can say “no”
comfortably.

Constituent Concerns

Because of time
constraints, Senators agreed to email constituent concerns to the Senate
President.

ADJOURNMENT

Following a three-minute recess
Senators moved to a faculty caucus at 5:45 and then moved to adjourn at 6:17
pm.

Rose Marie Norton-Nader, Recorder,
2-11-08

_______________________

Joan Stevenson, Secretary

Roster of the
2007-2008 Faculty Senate

Senators

08

1

Anderson, Roger, ACC Senator

A

P

Senate President 2007-2008

09

2

Anthony-Cahill, Spencer

A

P

Jeff Newcomer

08

3

Armstrong, Jeanne

G

P

Vice President and Parliamentarian

08

4

Brown, Rich (for Deb Currier)

D

P

Matthew Liao-Troth

09

5

Coskie, Tracy

H

P

09

6

Cunningham, Mick, Appts & Elects, Exec

B

P

Ex Officio

09

7

Downing, Thomas, UPC Chair, Exec nv

C

P

1

Karen Morse,
University President

P

09

8

Fewings, David, UPC Senator

E

P

2

John Lawson,
Vice Provost

P

09

9

Friesen, John

D

--

3

Roger Gilman,
Rep., Provost’s Council

P

09

10

Gilbertson, David

E

P

09

11

Gogrof-Voorhees, Andrea (see Guests)

C

P

Permanent Guests:

09

12

Helms, Ron, Library Senator (2 yr)

B

P

4

Ira Hyman, Past President, Exec,

--

08

13

Johnson, Diane for J Hoffman (apptd todqy)

C

--

5

John Purdy, Legislative Liaison, 07-08, Exec

P

09

14

Larson, Nikki

A

--

09

15

Larner, Daniel, At-Large, Exec

F

P

Recorder:
Rose Marie Norton-Nader

P

08

16

Liao-Troth, Matthew, VP & Parliam., Exec

E

P

Guests:

09

17

Lyne, William, UFWW Pres., Exec nv

C

P

Annie Jansen

P

08

18

Meyer, David

D

--

Sue Guenter-Schlesinger

P

08

19

Newcomer, Jeff , President Sen., Exec

A

P

08

20

Ohana, Chris

H

--

09

21

Reedy, Christopher

A

P

08

22

Simone, Genet

H

--

08

23

Stevenson, Joan, Secretary, Exec

C

P

Senators Present

23

09

24

Suczek, Chris

A

P

Absent or Excused

(7)

09

25

Symons, Lawrence

B

--

Ex Officio

3

08

26

Thompson, Roger, ACC Senator

C

P

Legislative Liaison, Past President

1

09

27

Vulic, Kathryn

C

P

Recorder

1

08

28

Wang, Grace

G

P

Guests

2

08

29

Lambert, Chuck, (for Ray Wolpow)

H

P

TOTAL PRESENT:

30

08

30

Yusa, Michiko

C

P

DATE: February 11, 2008

Article
III. Faculty Senate:
The Faculty Senate is empowered to
speak and act for the Faculty in University affairs with particular
responsibility in the areas of curriculum, academic programs, Faculty salary,
Faculty status, scholarly activities, and all matters relating to the welfare
of Faculty, the education of students, and the academic mission of the
University. The Faculty Senate is limited to 30 voting members elected by the
Faculty, and the President of the University, the Provost/Vice President for
Academic Affairs of the University, and a college dean appointed by the
Provost serving as Provost's Council representative as ex officio non-voting
members. (Faculty Handbook, page 55)